Now this is a tough call for me personally, since ET is my favorite Hawk of all time. This is a business though, as all these overpaid guys have proven over the years, with no loyalty. So Unless he is willing to play for a realistic number, which I don't see happening with probably being his last long term contract. I'm fine trading him to the highest bidder, outside of our division. I hope for the min of 2nd & 4th.

Whenever these conversation of who to keep were kicked around, I always sided with keeping Sherman and letting Earl go. But now that Sherman is gone, screw it, let them all go. If you're going to dissolve the Legion, then dissolve it. Don't keep around any relics from an older era.

Cliff and Kam aren't coming back any younger or stronger either. Put the show to rest and let's move on.

Trade Earl (just dear God don't let him walk for nothing like you did with Sherman).

The scheme will have to completely change if they move Earl, no one available will be able to just step in and do remotely close to what he does. He’s still a superstar and showed no signs of slowing down.

Earl is irreplaceable; I just don't see sense in extending him for what he will likely demand. It would just be more of the same which created this mess. Even with Earl the rest of the defense will not be able to overcome the years-long rebuild needed to make the offense competitive.

Earl will get re-signed. Pete and co are thinking they are still competitive, they had to make some tough choices financially and it meant losing talent but Pete didn't stick around another year and make all these changes to throw in the towel and walk away with his tail between his legs in a year or 2. He thinks he can field a winner so he's going to need some talent to do that and Earl is the best secondary talent we have left. I think his new contract becomes a priority and he's signed asap. Whether that is the best direction for the team long term is a separate discussion, but as for what likely happens, this is what I see.

Grahamhawker wrote:If you're going to gut the defense, then gut the defense. Get what picks you can and move forward at this point.

Ditto.

His junior high antics after the Dallas game kind of cemented that thought for me. While I don't blame him for wanting to go play where he grew up, his method of making that known was embarrassing.

Did everyone forget about the retirement talk after he broke his leg a couple of years ago? While Earl is a once in a generation talent, he is an emotional liability. With a better than decent shot of being a .500 team or worse, why wouldn't you just take what you can get for him on the open market and start improving the team now for the future?

If you are a 7-9 team on paper, and Earl gives you 1-2 wins by himself, is it worth it to keep him on the roster for elite money?

The team saw what happened when they lost Sherman and ET over the past two seasons. When ET3 left the defense was below average ranked in the mid 20's. Without Sherman, the defense was almost a top ten D ranked 11th. That told the staff all they needed to know about who needed to stay and who could be let go.

In my eyes you either extend him (preferred) or you gut this team and do a total rebuild outside of Russ.That includes trading Wagner and KJ who’s value will never be higher than it is right now. Lots of cap space and picks if you trade Bobby and KJ. ....but like I said extending Earl is my preferred route.

Trade. You'll probably be disappointed in his drop off without all the talent around him anyway. It's all questionable outside of Griffin right now. McDougald hasn't signed, Max, Shead....just depends on what they're REALLY doing.

I'd almost say the same for KJ. He's had problems in coverage for 2 years now. Picked on even as the weakest link. Still knows what he's doing at all times though, but he's paid too much.

He is still top-3 at his position even after a year in which we wasn't the best in the leagueHe's in his primeHe's one of the best players in franchise historyHis profile/position suggests he could be pretty damn great for another 5-7 years

nanomoz wrote:He is still top-3 at his position even after a year in which we wasn't the best in the leagueHe's in his primeHe's one of the best players in franchise historyHis profile/position suggests he could be pretty damn great for another 5-7 years

I don't know why you'd get rid of him. It'd be absolutely moronic, in my opinion, unless he demands it or has an injury situation.

This team still has a quarterback, the best linebacker in football, and ET3 will be tops-or-near it at his position.

And he's under contract for chrissakes.

True he is under contract..but has been purported as saying that he will hold out for higher pay. Greed has hit him too because of the Kam deal last year. I guess they want want want and will learn they have to earn earn earn.

I don't know that it's greed. Well it is, but he watches Kam get hurt maybe indefinitely and now Sherm too, where he was just cut and that money is gone. That part I understand.

It was the teammate thing and then the Dallas thing I didn't like. It's like taking a girl out on a date and then you see her at the bar with plan B dude while you're still out on the date. Kind of a veteran sloot move.

If it's all about rebuilding with younger and hungrier, why not let Earl's value provide a significant boost for that plan?As has been stated ad nauseam, better too early than too late (see Kam, Sherman, and Bennett examples). Unless playoff runs are on the near horizon (?), why keep doing the same thing by renewing expensive vets?The alternative seems to be we extend Earl with the huge deal he may expect, still don't reach the playoffs because of multiple existing holes, then cut him or trade him for a 6th.

Grahamhawker wrote:If it's all about rebuilding with younger and hungrier, why not let Earl's value provide a significant boost for that plan?As has been stated ad nauseam, better too early than too late (see Kam, Sherman, and Bennett examples). Unless playoff runs are on the near horizon (?), why keep doing the same thing by renewing expensive vets?The alternative seems to be we extend Earl with the huge deal he may expect, still don't reach the playoffs because of multiple existing holes, then cut him or trade him for a 6th.

Sports Hernia wrote:In my eyes you either extend him (preferred) or you gut this team and do a total rebuild outside of Russ.That includes trading Wagner and KJ who’s value will never be higher than it is right now. Lots of cap space and picks if you trade Bobby and KJ. ....but like I said extending Earl is my preferred route.

If we cut Earl, this team will collapse completely since Pete's scheme will have too many holes to work at all.

Cutting everyone besides Russ makes even less sense. Who do you get to replace them? Players through the draft? would need a lot of picks for that and be still good at draftingFAs? Expensive and seldom worth itgetting a ton of UDFAs and players other teams cut? You won't find enough diamonds in there to build a solid team. Besides that, what do you do with all the free money you have when you build a whole team out of new draft picks, UDFAs, and cheap players?

If we move on without Earl via trade we will change the scheme, we have depth on the roster in the secondary and on the D line, where we don't is at Linebacker, I could see a two tier situation, we create our cap space and try to salvage some picks this year, have more cap space next year and then draft our Linebacker depth or replacements.

If the only offers we are getting is anything less than a 2nd rounder, screw that keep him and let him play out his contract. We would nab a 3rd round comp pick if/when he walks, so there is no point in trading him for anything less.

MontanaHawk05 wrote:His off-the-field statements have nothing to do with his on-the-field value. I'd still take a 30-year old Earl over half the free safeties in the league.

I know right? Look at how the defense collapsed 2016 when Earl was out vs how the defense held its own in 2017 with Kam, Sherm, and Cliff out. Earl is a must keep the whole defense is based on his unique abilities.

If I had to guess, I say they are struggling to agree on the guarantees of his contract. Earl will want strong guaranteed money and the team will want to protect themselves from Kam part two. I don't think either side will fold.

I also think we will be somewhat disappointed in the value we get for him. My best guess is a second and either a 4th or more likely, a 5th/6th.

I honestly believe McDougald can man the free safety spot at a well above average level.

My wild guess is that he will be packaged with a pick or picks on draft day to go get someone Pete and John want bad. I'll be surprised if this doesn't include Shaqeem Griffen (sp). I'd take a flyer on those two brothers being the face of the next secondary.

If Cleveland went for that I would do it as well. Any team in the 20+ range we have a chance to meet in the playoffs. We will likely play Cleveland once before Earl retires and that is only because each NFC team plays a different division in the AFC every year.

TransGenderHawkFan wrote:If Cleveland went for that I would do it as well. Any team in the 20+ range we have a chance to meet in the playoffs. We will likely play Cleveland once before Earl retires and that is only because each NFC team plays a different division in the AFC every year.